Effective Questioning

How Questioning Can Drive Arguments, Productive Debate

Getting students to start producing questions can be the most difficult step in making questioning come alive in the classroom. It can be a shock to the system. But when students do start asking questions, the change is palpable. With so much content to cover, teachers sometimes fear making a detour to commit class time to developing students' ability to ask questions. They soon discover, however, that having students create questions is a shortcut to deeper learning. As students become more curious and engaged and take on new ownership of their learning they will leave school as sophisticated questioners who can use the skill of question formulation in higher education, the workplace, their lives, and our democracy.